Unleashing My Inner Unicorn.

Onward an upward.

When Your Children Are Not...

...Your Children Anymore

 

I seem to have always referred to them collectively as "The Children". When they were small they hung on my every word. I told them what to do and showed them how and when to do it, simple!?

With only fourteen months between them it was almost like having twins. Their personalities were quite different, a gregarious girl and a shy quiet boy, which I think is quite a common occurrence. I was determined their early lives would be about learning and laughing so from birth to pre-school we tried to make everyday a fun day.

I did have help, we lived abroad at this time so no family support was available. But Sesame Street and Barney The Purple Dinosaur were always on hand to entertain and teach, along with Bear In The Big Blue House and Blue's Clues. I could not have managed without them, and I thank them for their contribution in the early years!

Back home in the U.K. the school years rubbed along with the usual highs and lows. Academic ability, peer groups and apparently most important, "fitting in", not being left out. These are my main memories of these times, I guess they are challenging for everyone to some degree.
If your opinion is sought and advice given you hope it helps but ultimately, sometimes sadly, they have to learn to deal with things themselves, all I could do was ensure a stable, loving and supportive environment was waiting at home.

Now aged twenty and nineteen we have entered the university years, both are having the time of their lives and I am delighted for them. But it is only recently that I realised my children have been replaced by my daughter and my son. 

Once I was the centre of their universe, now I'm just one of the planets, and I'm cool with that, maybe.

They don't hang on my every word like they used to, and they don't always take my advice, they don't often ask now!

They're pretty good about keeping in touch, mostly.

They both talk to me as if I'm a best friend (I am) not just Mum! I am included in their lives as much as I can reasonably expect as a parent, long may it continue.
They are branching out and gaining the confidence and independence to lead the life they want for themselves.

What more can you ask 😁

So how do you live long and prosper in a little retail world?

If you want a bricks and mortar presence on the High Street you need the premises, the products and the people.

Your shop fittings will help you stand out from the crowd and together with the ambiance you create, your business will be totally compelling to the public at large. The U.S.P. (unique selling point) of the store will make people want to spend money with you rather than a superstore or hypermarket.
Even better, stock stuff they cannot match, be it vintage, quirky or totally unique to you. Do all these things and you are off to a great start.
But it's not enough these days, you need to self-promote.

You need Social Media of Course!

 

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. I'm a novice with much to learn but I see the value of a presence on these platforms.

I joined Facebook years ago but only recently have I started using it to help promote my business. Does it work? I will let you know in due course. 

It used to be the case in business that when times got hard the first things to suffer were Staff Training and Advertising budgets, but aren't they the very things you need to utilise when things get tough?
As Social Media is essentially free the only thing you need to spend is time and this can be a significant investment to the self employed. 

People seem to respond better to images rather than lots of text so I can understand the success of Instagram and I MUST try to make time to develop a presence on my recently acquired page. You would think that Twitter would work best with a picture and caption. Not for me though, I find Twitter to be rather disconnected, with people only looking for followers rather than content. As for others like WhatsApp or Snapchat etc. I am totally clueless. A newbie like me cannot deal with those yet, so my focus is understanding Facebook for now.

Image of this Blog on my phone.

Be More Mobile!

People seem more happy to get mobile on the sofa - with a phone or tablet in hand.
On checking how people connect with my on line "presence", I find there is an overwhelming amount of mobile device browsing compared to desktop computers. If you have a web presence you need to be "mobile" optimised. I was horrified to see some of my stuff while browsing on my phone, something I almost never do, it just did not look right. As I use a desktop computer almost all of the time I had not considered that there would be a significant difference, my bad!
For example, I purposely don't have side panels on this blog because they seem to distort the view on a small device. And I noticed my images don't work when shown three abreast whereas they look fine on a desktop screen.
None of this had occurred to me before, but as this is the future of on line browsing I had better start addressing mobile compatibility right now.

So Much To Learn So little Time.

MySuperConcentratedMotivationalMantra

 

JUST ADD ... YOU

 

Whether You Think You Can, Or

Whether You Think You Can't, You Are Right.

 

 

Make Change - But Stand For Values Which Don't Change. 

 

 

If You Are A Leader - Your Job? - Create More Leaders

 

 

READY, FIRE, AIM

 Avoid Over Analysis Or Start-Up Perfection

What Is It You Want To Do? 

So Plan It, Build It,

And JUST DO IT! - You Can Tweak It As You Go. 

 

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW...

Most Don't...

But I used to work for a very dynamic and memorable business owner, I still think of him, and here are the reasons why;

 

• Attention to detail, you knew exactly what was required

  

• He had excellent listening skills

• Every opinion mattered

• Always set a positive example

• Never pulled - rank

• Showed interest in the person and their family

• Encouraged you and challenged you to be better

• You were always capable of more

• Encouraged and praised a job well done

• Straightforward, honest and constructive in appraisal

• Gave you ownership and encouraged you to make a difference

• Celebrated success

   

   

"IF IT IS TO BE"..

...“It’s Up To Me”

 

This should be every self employed person's mantra.

 

Wouldn’t it be great if those words were engraved on the door to your workplace as a reminder every day? 

 

 “If it is to be, it’s up to me” 

 

Isn't this the attitude that epitomises the most professional, driven person you have ever met.

It’s the attitude that shows when someone takes personal responsibility for everything that occurs in his or her day. 

The real business professional immediately acknowledges and deals with every challenge that comes his or her way.  

Look for solutions not excuses. 

So the solution to my challenge is for you to visit my Amazon or eBay store! 😁  

 

 

Designed by Freepik

Something For Nothing...

On eBay...

 

I know I'm not the brightest light bulb when it comes to eBay, so I look at what the "Experts" are saying. 

It seems to be perceived wisdom that the description box on an eBay listing should always include the item title. Apparently the title box information is not included in searches made by budding customers, who knew?!

 

"Those in the know" also say that images in the description box generate a significantly higher percentage of sales. I have been looking for a low-cost, no-cost solution to this for a while, So being the frugal type I took another trip around Google and then explored eBay Seller Centre. I found this Photo Gallery, it is free to use and can also be customised, available at eBayphotogallery.com

I am trying it for a while to see if it is viable in the long term. So far the only thing I find negative is when you click an image it opens the item in another window. This is a link to your gallery images shown on their website. It seems that you can only stop this happening by taking a paid subscription. Should have guessed right?

Photo Gallery - click to enlarge

Hurry Up And Take Your Time.

The thoughts of a small trader.

In my opinion, in the little Retail Bubble which  I inhabit, some of the last people to feel the tightening grip of recession are Commercial Landlords. They always seem to get the rent they want because there will always be someone out there with the next big idea. Just don't don't get too carried away when you find the perfect premises.

Do - Ask for the first month rent free.
Do - Try to get it decorated by the landlord for free.
Do - Make sure you have a "break" clause, 12 - 18 months is usual.
Don't sign a lengthy contract, I usually opted for five years.
Don't forget to establish who is responsible for repairs, make sure it is in the contract.
Don't have verbal agreements regarding responsibilities, write it down in the contract.

Don’t get me wrong, more people should consider starting their own business. I love to see small independent shops they make a town interesting and charming. It’s a pleasure to walk around a place with more than just the usual High Street names.
The idea of someone starting their own business rather than working for “The Man” is exactly what I did. Maybe I got lucky but I did a lot of research about what was realistically achievable in my little town.

What about your town?

Is it a dormitory town, do most of its inhabitants sleep there but work and play elsewhere.?
What catchment area surrounds your town, are there many smaller communities who may visit for shopping etc.?
Or my favourite, are you a tourist town, just a nice place to visit with lots to see and do and lots of people visiting?

These are just some of the things to consider before taking your nest-egg or bank loan and, often with little experience but loads of enthusiasm, marching into retail battle with a "Gung-Ho" attitude.
It sometimes seems that with little or no research people plough money, time and effort into their project without looking at footfall or any kind of demographics. There are successes of course, but most seem to disappear within a year which is the normal “break” clause in a commercial contract. Landlords here in the U.K. are not given to reduce rent for a period to help a business get a better foothold they would rather rinse and repeat.

 

It is the poor little proprietor who has to sink or swim. We have all heard so-called "Business Gurus" trotting out the legend;

 

 "No such thing as failure, it's all experience". 

That may be true, but I have experienced losing money in a venture and it felt like a burn to me. Yes you need to pick yourself up and try to learn from it, but I don’t remember nodding sagely and thinking of that 'feel good' motivational blurb!
As I have said, you must do your research and take your time.
It's a shame that in the rush to start a business "Due Diligence" goes out of the window. And another proprietor walks in through the shop door.

So how do you live long and prosper in a little retail world?

Further Up The Amazon

I 💖 Amazon Because...

 

 

Well, first we have to take a step back in time. 

 

We used to have bricks and mortar shops, two on separate occasions, tucked away on the High Street.
The second premises was quite large for a "Mum and Dad" type of store which had my workshop and stock room in the back. It worked very well for us for some time with Alan minding the shop and me beavering away in the background. Our customers were great, we were in a small town so we had a large number of regulars who would linger and chat about everyday issues etc. But like many small towns the independent shops were dwindling away due to many factors too numerous to discuss here.

Behold My Retail Empire.

 

 

But the major factor was always rent and rates. Time to tackle the "Elephant In The Room".

 

AMAZON FEES

 

People moan about the commission and fees you have to pay on each sale, roughly 15% - LOOK AT THE ADVANTAGES!

• No rent or council business rates - which are an absolute rip-off!
• Open 24 hours 365 days of the year.
• Part of the largest on-line marketplace.
• Millions of potential footfall, anyone anywhere in the world can browse your store.
• You don't have to make sales or supervise browsers. Set up your store and have a nap!
• No cleaning or building maintainance.
• No insurance payments 
• No credit card rental and comission.
• Not paying two licence fees for background music.

The list goes on and on, I would say that High Street Retail costs would easily exceed 20 -25% of turnover for a small business with no online presence. Now Amazon and all of it's advantages don't look so bad! Plus the high standard that Amazon demand of it's "Sellers" stops you from being lazy. Customer service is as important to Amazon as it is to me and this means that customers can buy with absolute confidence.
The buyer is their top priority bar none!

But the main advantage is that you manage your Amazon store. If you have a bricks and mortar store it manages you.

About five years ago I reverted back to being solely a "Cottage Industry". Working from home requires discipline and yes, I'm still working on that. But my time is more my own and the running costs are significantly less so I take that as a win win situation. I know this would not work for everyone but for now it makes me happy. 😀

Now what about eBay?

The World Of Gift Fairs - Selling To The Trade - Part 3.

When Reality Bites.

 

After the euphoria of a successful Trade Fair comes the reality of actually making and dispatching the goods.

It seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that the first order you send to a customer is "Pro Forma", that is to say the client pays for the goods prior to receiving them. Thereafter, the account becomes "thirty day terms" which literally means that when the goods and invoice are dispatched to the customer, they have thirty days to pay for them.
Obviously, some pay early, some pay late. I was lucky as I always got paid on time, but I know of some real horror stories from other makers who have had all sorts of problems with finance. I have been lucky enough to only work with nice people.😇

Whilst taking orders I always kept a monthly planner handy, this was invaluable to schedule dates for orders to be made and dispatched.This helped me give the customer some idea of a delivery date, after all, there are only so many items that can be made in any given day and you have to be honest with youself and your customer.

 I left the weekends free and tried to base my day on a typical 9 to 5 as far as life (kids) allowed. Once you are back home you MUST try to stick to your planner schedule come hell or high water. Unforseen events will conspire to eat into your day, from unexpected visitors to a child needing to come home from school. When this happens (and it will!) you need a new strategy. If you have to, get up early, work late, even work those sacred weekends but never fall behind - If you do, believe me, you will never catch up


You have to be very realistic about what you can achieve in an hour, a day a week, a month. And plan your workload accordingly.
I did this and thought about what I could comfortably achieve in any given day and it's worked out pretty well for me. I use the word "comfortably" because there is no point pushing yourself and your stress level up every day.
Obviously you need to make a living, but there's no point making youself ill doing it - it takes the fun out of life.

Whatever happens,

NEVER OVER PROMISE AND NEVER UNDER DELIVER

Look at what I found on the dresser!!!

All in a (few) days work for a little old Cottage Industry like Mackintosh And More. My work is inspired by shapes and patterns taken from the Art Deco and Art Nouveau eras. With a hint of Charles Rennie Mackintosh unique style.

This dresser is now doubling as my "Image Factory", you will see it as the background in numerous pictures on this fledgling Blog. Each item needs to be individually photographed to then be loaded onto the Amazon and eBay Marketplaces.

O.K. I know that I have many challenges with my photographic efforts, and I am always trying to improve. They say image is everything and that is certainly the case with internet sales, I do my best but it's a steep learning curve.

I try to take three or four shots of a vase from different angles and rightly or wrongly I have recently included the wine bottle to give some scale. I tend to sit astride a dining chair and rest my forearms on the back to steady the yips! However sometimes I just point and hold my breath.😅

By the by, I'm not using some kind of specialist top of the range mega pixel camera, I wouldn't have a clue how to use it. My current weapon of choice is an everyday "Tablet" computer, maybe it's an unusual choice but I feel comfortable with it at the moment.

The World Of Gift Fairs - Selling To The Trade - Part 2.

The Trade Show must go on!

First things first, choose the size of pitch you'd like, I usually had 3m x 2m, and pay the organiser LOTS of money. Then they ask if you'd like lights - as though a dark display is an option - and they charge more money for those! Then they ask if you'd like an electricity socket, and guess what? Yep, more money. I was getting scared. This was fast becoming a massive financial investment and I had to make it work.

Alan sourced a display stand which was predominantly glass, this was to minimise shadows and make the  display light and bright. Believe it or not we built it in our dining room, it looked so huge! I spent weeks filling it with vases and moving them from one position to another, grouping colours and such, until I was happy with the result.

TOP TIP - we then took photographs of the completed display to remind us where to put everything. This is key to preserving your sanity when you have lugged all your stuff from the hire van and plonked it in front of your "space".

First Day at Trade Show in my new uniform

At last, the day before the show, we were off to Harrogate to set it all up

 

Wildflower Studio - back in the day!

With everything in position and pens, order forms and calculators to hand. The first morning of the show should have been calm, but of course I was anything but. The cost was weighing heavily on my mind and I was feeling antsy.

When the doors opened, I figured that it would be hours before we saw any potential customers, so I went for a little wander around to help calm me down and left Alan in charge.

I was happily chatting to another stallholder, when some friends from Hexham appeared. They joked that I was 'skiving' and had left Alan to do all the work. I laughed along but was puzzled until they said 'yeah, he's got quite a queue forming'.

  

Shmoozing Customers.

I literally ran back to the stand!

The weather for the duration of the show was blistering sunshine and we almost melted in that Marquee. BUT we took orders steadily for four days, it was heady stuff and we were delighted. I could not believe it!!

All I had to do then was make them...

Now What?

That's what I thought, so you think you're a "Cottage Industry", now what are you going to do to make it work?

I outlined a potted history of my journey earlier but in many ways that was just the start of it all.
We sold our shop Artifacts, as we were made an offer that we really couldn't refuse. The shop had been very good to us since our return to the U.K. but both Alan and I felt that we were being given a new direction. The money raised from the business basically financed the next twelve months or so of refining my designs, creating new ones and testing the market to see if my work would sell!

Artifacts - our third baby!

A friend and fellow "Crafter from home" told us of a Tourist Information Centre in the lovely Northumberland town of Morpeth. This T.I.C. is also a Northumberland Pipe Museum and Gallery for local Artists and Makers, and is called Morpeth Chantry. Thankfully my work was accepted, and for a monthly fee and commission on each sale I started to display my glass. This move proved to be one of the best things that I ever did! My work sold, thank goodness, which made me feel a little more confident, and as well as that, provided the platform and contacts to approach other local galleries and shops to take my work on a sale or return basis. This is perfect for the outlet as there is no initial outlay or financial risk, and for me it was more exposure, so a winner all round.

I think at this point I should mention a slightly sensitive subject - Managing Your Day.
I know it doen't sound particularly tricky but it is, without doubt, one of the toughest aspects of working from home to get to grips with. Oh the distractions, kids, housework, homework, cooking, kids, bath time, theirs and mine, husband etc. etc.

 AND

Why is it that friends and relatives who just "pop round" don't understand that technically I'm at work? They expect me to drop everything and put the kettle on so we can have a lovely natter. You may think I'm being miserable (and they usually do) but I'm trying to be creative here! The truth is, other people don't see what I do as a proper job and I'm sure they think it's a hobby. How do they imagine I pay the bills! So be warned - if you're going to work from home you need boundaries. If anyone figures out how to do this tactfully, please let me know :D

 

What Now! The World Of Gift Fairs - Selling To The Trade.

 Tackling the gift world, one vase at a time!

 

 😟 It was more like apprehension than worry when I first stuck my toe into the muddy waters of attracting retail outlets to stock my vases. Sale or return was all well and good, many retailers will happily take on stock if there's no financial outlay, but I wanted to know if the product was attractive enough for people to order their stock and pay for it up front. The only way to do this is to book space at a gift show.

At the time (2006?) there was a Business Forum in Northumberland who were keen to help small businesses take off. They kindly offered us a very small space (at vastly reduced rates) at the British Craft Trade Fair. This is an annual show which takes place in Harrogate, and is the best place for retailers and gallery owners to see exclusively hand-made British products.

My BCTF stand was similar to this one.

Well the space was small, only a metre wide and two metres tall, but I was grateful for the opportunity.  I arranged as many vases as I could, as artistically as I could and waited nervously for the doors to open.

It was a slow start.

Trade Buyers are a mixed bag. Shops, Galleries Museums, Tourist Information Centres, National Trust, Garden Centres, to name but a few. They only have so much money to spend and they need to feel that the product will sell in their particular market. So they like to look at everything, often twice, making notes as they go, before they feel they can commit to an order.
But eventually the orders started coming! OK, I wasn't going to make a fortune, but it was a good start. As well as the promise of actually being paid, I was getting a lot of feedback and suggestions about colour combinations and current trends. It was a really worthwhile experience.

So I'd gained a little confidence, had some new ideas, and thought I was ready to take on another Gift Fair, something bigger. The obvious choice seemed to be the Home & Gift Fair, again in beautiful Harrogate. This is a much larger affair, and has all kinds of different products from around the world, not just hand-made things from a little "Cottage Industry" like mine.
There was a good chance my display would be entirely overshadowed by so many sparkly imported things so I was going to have to make an enormous effort, Hmm.

 

More to follow...